Hands Off

By SCM Staff

Off-the-shelf to high tech: The Auro Robotics vehicle starts with a modified golf cart. Photo by Joanne Lee

November 16, 2015

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The driverless vehicle of the future? A Sunnyvale-based startup chose the Mission Campus as a proving ground for its autonomous vehicle.

There’s a vehicle cruising around campus without any driver, though you’d have to look closely to tell. The Mission Campus is serving as the beta test ground for an autonomous shuttle system being developed by Sunnyvale startup Auro Robotics. A three-month pilot program began this fall. Test engineers are always behind the wheel of the modified golf cart, monitoring technology and safety as well as the user experience, but an array of sensors and a computer is actually doing the driving. In the first phase of the tests, there weren’t any passengers. The company envisions marketing the vehicles to colleges as well as theme parks, resorts, industrial campuses, and retirement communities.